Malkovich's mentalist makes believers of us all

John Malkovich gives life to the story of an entertainer whose specialty is comedy, hypnosis and a little sleight-of-hand.

The Great Buck Howard (PG) Magnolia (87 min.) Directed by Sean McGinly. With Colin Hanks, John Malkovich, Emily Blunt. Now playing in New York. THREE STARS.

He is the Great Buck Howard, and he knows what you're thinking.

He has to. That's part of his act. Along with some hypnosis, a little sleight-of-hand, a few jokes and a taste of Burt Bacharach at the piano. He is, and has been for four decades, an entertainer.

But lately he's been entertaining smaller and smaller audiences.

A drama about a falling star has always been a favorite of the movies, and the results are usually pretty harsh. Think "Sunset Boulevard," or "The Entertainer." Or Carl Reiner's bittersweet, forgotten "The Comic."

Every so often, though, there's a movie -- like "My Favorite Year" -- that looks at these fallen stars with a bit more warmth and fondness. And "The Great Buck Howard" is one of those movies.

The film was written and directed by Sean McGinly, who once worked for , and any connection between Howard and that Garden State mentalist is, well, to be expected. But also unfair.

Mostly because Howard is, fully and completely, his own person.

Much of that is due to the wonderful performance by John Malkovich, who -- while drawing on some of Kreskin's '70s style (the oversized glasses, the aggressive handshake) -- definitely gives him his own life.

Some of these are big touches (like Howard's backstage hissy fits). Others are small (like the slight suggestion that this vain cheapskate has a pair of new, and not particularly good, dentures). But they all add up to a great character.

This is good, too, because the film is a little short on them.

For example, Malkovich's co-star, Colin Hanks -- as our narrator, the law school dropout who takes a job as Howard's assistant -- doesn't have much to him. He's Hollywood's go-to cliche, the bland, would-be writer who then meets An Unforgettable Character. Ho-hum.

The movie isn't helped either, by the appearance of Colin's real-life dad, Tom, as his father. That he's producing the movie is quite enough; once he comes onscreen, our suspension of disbelief takes a hit, and all we can think is, gosh, there's Tom Hanks. Nice of him to help his kid.

But Emily Blunt -- the best thing in this month's "Sunshine Cleaning," too -- is quite good as a world-weary publicist, and Steve Zahn brings some goofiness as an easily impressed fan. The mentalist's "effects" -- please, don't call them tricks -- are fun, too.

But best of all is Malkovich. He has played, in the past, with the idea of celebrity -- of people desperate for it ("Being John Malkovich"), of people counterfeiting it ("Color Me Kubrick"). Now he shows us someone fiercely holding on to it.

And the film's greatest trick of all is convincing us that this wonderful old ham is doing exactly what he was born to do.
Ratings note: The film contains some suggestive language.